


Under the Darkness

by MissNewGoomy (5dshadesofgay)



Series: Deja Vú [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, F/M, Lots of AkuSai and Soriku, M/M, VanVen only if you want it to be (it's up to your interpretation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-02-17 11:33:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13076010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5dshadesofgay/pseuds/MissNewGoomy
Summary: When you're Under the Darkness, how do you get back to the light?Sequel to Meltdown and part of the Deja Vu series.Will Lea be able to save Isa from his darkness?Will Sora ever find Riku?Will Vanitas and Ventus ever be united again?Can anyone save Terra from the what he's become?Can Xehanort ever be stopped?All their fates rest with the avatar. Can the avatar master all four elements and save his friends before Xehanort takes over?Will all these questions actually be answered in this fic or will I be making a third installment?You'll just have to wait and see!





	1. Chapter i

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! The first chapter of the sequel to Meltdown! Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays!

  
_**~~~** _   
_**Gray city, frozen traffic** _   
_**This scene I noticed began to disappear** _   
_**The truth reflected in the mirror is reality** _   
_**Struggling in the darkness** _   
_**~~~** _

  
“So, you gave into the darkness, didja?”

The masked man who'd spoken was dressed in dark clothing that covered his entire body. He stood against a tree, arms crossed.

“That’s rich coming from someone completely _made_ of darkness,” the newcomer laughed.

“I didn’t have a choice. You did.”

“Yes, and I chose this in order to protect the person most important to me.”

“Is that what they told you?”

But the newcomer in the black coat had had enough taunting. He bent a large chunk of rock at the masked man who grabbed it with pure shadow.

“So, you really _are_ a shadowbender,” the new guy said.

“One of a kind,” shrugged the masked man, crushing the boulder with his darkness. “So tell me, 'number XIII', did they give you a name yet?”

“That’s a rude thing to ask when you haven’t given me yours.”

“Oh, _I’m sorry_ , where ARE my manners?” the masked man snorted. “My name is Vanitas. And you are?”

Number XIII lowered his hood, revealing very long silver hair, sharp amber eyes, and tanned skin.

“My name,” he said, “is Ansem.”

~~~

When Aqua woke up, she immediately felt that something wasn’t right. She tried to reach up to touch her head, but she was restrained to the bed she was lying on by metal around her wrists and ankles.

“Finally awake.”

Aqua turned towards the voice and saw what had become of Terra. Long silver hair, bright golden eyes, and that horrible Organization coat.

“Terra…” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

“My name is Xemnas,” Xemnas told her.

“I know you’re still Terra somewhere on the inside,” Aqua growled.

“You can think whatever you want,” Xemnas told her, “but you told Xaldin that if we didn’t harm the boy you were with, you’d finally join us.”

“If you show me that he’s safe in the regular world, I’ll put on your black coat and join you.”

“I know who the kid is, Aqua.”

Aqua’s mouth went dry.

“Please,” she begged, “please, just let him go. I swear I’ll do anything, just let him go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Xemnas said. “He’s too important to our cause. But I’d be happy to return you to the regular world.”

“And what exactly is your cause?!” Aqua snorted angrily, pulling at her restraints.

“That’s classified information.”

“What have you been telling your members?! That they’re not complete people and the only way to become complete is to find Kingdom Hearts? Don’t think I don’t know what’s really going on. I know you’re possessing your members, just like you’re possessing Terra.”

Suddenly a dark portal opened and out stepped someone Aqua hadn’t seen in ten years.

“Very clever, Master Aqua.”

Aqua looked away with bitterness.

“What’s your endgame here, Xehanort?” she hissed, refusing to look at him.

“That is none of your concern,” Xehanort smiled. He raised his hand, bending her metal shackles to make her stand up and face him.

“We have the avatar,” Xehanort grinned. “We don’t need anyone else, now. Everything has fallen into place. There’s nothing to stop me from killing you, right here, right now.” He raised his other hand and a piece of very sharp metal rose up. Aqua gave a last look at Xemnas, willing the Terra inside him to see what was happening.

“Is that really necessary, Master Xehanort?” Xemnas asked, and Aqua felt relieved. “We could use her to keep Ventus in line and control Vanitas.”

“Hm…” Xehanort considered this. “This isn’t the 'Terra' inside you speaking, is it?”

“There is no Terra inside me,” Xemnas told him. “I just thought she could be useful. How do you think Ventus will react if he knows she’s dead? How will that affect Vanitas?”

Xehanort scrutinized him, searching for any hidden agenda, but then lowered the blade and bent Aqua’s shackles back to her bed.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Xehanort agreed. “Very well, I will let her live. But she will wear a coat. See to it that she does.” With that, Xehanort left through another portal.

“I knew you were still in there, Terra,” Aqua sighed with relief after Xehanort left.

“There _is_ no Terra inside me,” Xemnas repeated. “Don’t get the wrong idea about why I kept you from being killed. If need be, I’ll kill you myself. Now then…” Xemnas bent a strip of metal around Aqua’s throat. “If you try anything, I will use that metal to hurt you.” He bent away her shackles and grabbed an Organization coat that was nearby, throwing it to her. “Put that on.”

~~~~~

Sora was rudely awakened by someone trying to put something on him.

“Wh…. GET OFF ME!” Sora bent a whirlwind around him- or at least tried to, but he found that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t see a thing and started to panic.

“Who’s there?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!” He felt his arm get pulled into the sleeve of something heavy.

“Are you putting me in one of those black coats?!” Sora demanded to know.

“No,” a voice in the dark said. “Then you’d be able to see in the dark like we can. This is more… restraining.”

Sora didn’t know that voice. His other arm was forced into a sleeve and then his arms were crisscrossed. Sora guessed it was a straitjacket of some kind. He tried to use oral airbending but his chest was suddenly too tight for him to take a deep breath, which he needed in order for it to work.

He was trapped.

He was a prisoner.

And he didn’t know how he was going to get out.

And then his body relaxed, that weird invisible hold on him vanishing. Not that it made matters much better because Sora still couldn’t move.

“Let me go!” Sora yelled, pulling against his restraints. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“This isn’t about anything you _did_ ,” the mysterious voice said. “This is about who you _are_.”

And before Sora could cry out anything else, something was pulled over his mouth, muffling his voice.

“Keep an eye on him,” the voice said to someone else.

“Why am I always the one stuck babysitting, Saix?” a girl’s voice huffed.

“You should be honored that we entrusted this task to you, Larxene,” Saix said. “It’s something only you can do. If he tries anything, only you have the power to stun him.”

“Pfft,” Larxene huffed.

“If you have a problem, take it up with the Superior, not me,” Saix said before Sora heard him leaving.

“Don’t get any ideas, kid,” Larxene hissed, and Sora saw the room light up with electricity. “I’ve got more lightning than a fucking thunderstorm and I am _itchin’_ to use it.”

_Don’t panic, don’t panic…!_ Sora willed himself. He could get out of this. Somehow, he would get out of this.

It took a while, but Sora cleared his head of all thoughts and focused on his heart. If it was true that his heart was connected to Ventus’s and Vanitas’s, then maybe he could contact someone for help….

~~~~~~~~

“Are you okay there, Vanitas?” Ansem smirked. “I hadn’t thought I hit you _that_ hard…”

Vanitas was staggering. If he hadn’t had his mask on, his sparring partner would’ve seen him cringing. But then, all of a sudden, Vanitas used his darkness to latch onto Ansem and draw him in close. Ansem struggled; Vanitas had never shown this kind of aggression before, and he would’ve yelped with shock had shadow not covered his mouth. Vanitas knew he’d only have a few seconds to relay the message. If he was caught this close to Ansem for an extended amount of time, Xehanort would figure him out.

“ _Shut up and listen to me!_ ” Vanitas hissed under his breath, sure Ansem could hear even through his mask. “ _I know who you really are and I can’t tell you how I know, but they’ve got Sora here at the castle. If the old man finds out either of us know, Sora will be in danger. I know this means he broke your agreement but if you start something out in the open, he’ll be in danger. We have to be sneaky about this or we’ll both lose what we cherish most. Now attack me before he gets suspicious!_”

Vanitas loosened his darkness and Ansem bent a giant slab of earth at him. Vanitas let it hit him and his darkness broke.

“Slacking, are we, Vanitas?” Xehanort mused. “You had him there for a good moment but in the end, you just couldn’t finish the job. The time spent with your light half has made you weak.”

“ **I am not _weak!_** ”

Black flames burst up from the ground, surrounding Vanitas and Ansem and enclosing them.

“Proof,” Vanitas said, removing his mask for a few seconds so that "Ansem" could see without Xehanort seeing. The mask was back on in an instant and the flames exploded, sending Ansem flying back.

So _that_ was why Vanitas wore a mask all the time.

Ansem believed him. Xehanort had broken his promise. All of this was to keep Sora safe, but if he was here, he’d have to figure out a way to save Sora and get out of here without alerting Xehanort. To do that, he’d have to secretly team up with Vanitas. They both had important people to save, though Ansem didn’t know who Vanitas’s important person was.

~~~

  
As Axel was following Saix down the hall, he noticed something strange about the bedrooms.

“Saix, who’s our thirteenth member?”

“Ah,” Saix replied nonchalantly. “You were knocked out when we initiated him. He spends most of his time training with the Superior, so I doubt you’ll even meet him.”

“Does he have a name?” Axel snorted.

“He’s not fond of names. He just prefers to be called Number XIII.”

“Okay then… Also, why is there a room for a Number XIV?”

“We have a work in progress,” Saix simply said.

“But aren’t we Organization XIII? How can we have a fourteenth member?”

“She volunteered herself. I don’t really know much about it,” Saix shrugged.

Something about it didn’t feel right in Axel’s mind. But he was still so foggy from the accident… Well, he trusted Saix.

“So, do you want to keep lingering on these insignificant rooms or would you rather be in mine?”

That took Axel’s mind off them _immediately_. God, when was the last time they’d even _had_ a moment alone together?

“I… Really? Now?” Axel stumbled over his words, flustered.

“You don’t want to?” Saix asked mildly with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course I do!” Axel belted out immediately. Realizing he said that too loud (and eagerly) he said, in a much quieter voice, “I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s been a while. I thought… maybe you…”

“I what?” Saix asked, staring Axel down. “It’s us forever, right, _Lea_?”

That was all the persuasion Axel needed. As soon as they were inside Saix’s room, Axel had him pressed up against the wall, his hands tangled in blue hair and his lips moving against Saix's. All thoughts of any other members were completely gone.

“One request,” Saix’s breath was hitched as Axel trailed small bites down his neck. “Leave your jacket on.”

“Odd request, but okay,” Axel replied against Saix’s neck. “Then I get to take yours off.”

“Fair deal.”

~~~

Putting on the black coat was like wearing a jacket made of radioactive lead. As soon as Aqua stuck her arm into the first sleeve, she felt the weight press down on her, mentally and physically. She felt _contaminated_.

“Don’t forget to zip it up,” Xemnas ordered. Aqua glared at him as she reluctantly put her other arm through the other sleeve.

And then it was on her. It felt like she was a hundred times heavier. An icy feeling entered her body, into her skin, her blood, her heart. She zipped up the coat, as ordered, all while shuddering and feeling lightheaded. She felt _violated_.

She hated everything about the coat. How it felt, what it meant. But she had to do this. To stay alive, but more importantly, to save her friends. Ventus was somewhere in the castle and if she played along long enough, she could rescue him. And that boy, Sora, who was the avatar… She had to free him, too, before Xehanort could manipulate him.

Her heart was strong. Her mind was strong. She wouldn’t be possessed by Xehanort so easily. As if Xemnas could see what she was thinking, he suddenly said, “Resistance is futile. The longer you fight back, the worse it will be. I should know. Or, rather, Terra should know.”

Aqua’s eyes widened at the mention of Terra. She smiled.

“I know Terra is still fighting you, and one day he will win. You’ll _never_ have power over me.”

Xemnas laughed.

“I told you before, there _is_ no Terra anymore. He lost the fight. It was a long one, and he suffered immensely for it. Those who give in quickly suffer less. Your eyes will be gold in no time.”

Aqua grimaced, but her determination didn’t falter. She knew in her heart that Terra was still in there, somewhere. Maybe deep, _deep_ inside, but somewhere Terra was still fighting. And she would do everything in her power to help him win. Even if she had to reach into Xemnas and pull Terra out with her bare hands.

It had been ten years too long.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saix keeps Axel in line. Xemnas keeps Saix in line. Xehanort keeps everyone in line. Or so he thought.
> 
> Somehow, Vanitas knows he must make an escape. The arrival of someone familiar might just be the key to kickstart his plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~
> 
> I'm so sorry this took SO long to come out! I had the chapters written for a while but then I realized I left a giant plot hole that I needed to fill and had to rewrite almost EVERYTHING. And then life caught up with both myself and my beta and neither of us really had the time. 
> 
> But finally, here is chapter 2! I really hope it was worth the wait ^^ 
> 
> Also happy AkuSai month!!! ;)

 

_**~~~** _   
_**What I received in reoccurring pain** _   
_**Was a kiss of lies** _   
_**The warmth of overlapping bodies** _   
_**All night long, every fruit of attraction…** _   
_**~~~** _

  
_**I AM NOT A SHELL!** _   
_**I AM R***S AND YOU KILLED X**N, MY BEST FRIEND!** _

  
Axel woke up with hair in his face and a back against his chest. As asked, he had kept his coat on, but everything else was strewn about on the floor, mixed with everything Saix had been wearing the previous night. Already the dream was fading from his mind, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was very important for him to remember it.

“Sai…” Axel whispered, nuzzling the back of his neck. Saix grunted with annoyance in return. “I had a strange dream…”

“Can it wait?” Saix mumbled into his pillow, clearly still in the grips of drowsiness.

“No. I can’t explain it but it felt like… like _more_ than a dream,” Axel went on, comfortably snuggled against Saix. “There was… there was a child, shouting. Someone had killed… someone had killed his best friend… And this kid was wearing an Organization jacket.”

That woke Saix right up. He turned in Axel’s arms to look at him.

“Well, it was just a dream then,” he assured him. “There are no children in The Organization.”

“I know, but… it just felt so _real_ … Like a memory I had forgotten…”

“Well, it wasn’t real. You know what _is_ real, though?” Saix kissed Axel’s jawline, making his way to his neck.

“Mmn,” Axel sighed, wrapping his arms around the other. “You’ve been awfully clingy ever since my injury. What gives?”

“What, you don’t like it?” Saix pretended to sound offended.

“Of course I do,” Axel replied. “It’s just… well… kind of sudden.”

Saix sighed, burying his head in Axel’s chest.

“I thought I lost you,” he mumbled, inhaling Axel’s scent. “It reminded me not to take our time together for granted. Even you could feel we were drifting apart for a while. In all this chaos, we’re losing ourselves. But I don’t want to lose you. That’s the one thing I’m certain of.”

“You’re getting all sappy on me, Sai’,” Axel hummed. “I feel like we’re kids again. Are you sure this is okay? What if Xemnas finds out?”

“Remember who you’re talking to,” Saix yawned, turning over again so that his back was to Axel’s chest. “I know how to play him. And if that dream keeps bothering you, talk to Zexion about it when you go for your healing session. Now, if you want to get to Zexion in one piece, you’ll let me sleep.”

So Axel let him sleep, but he himself couldn’t. That dream… It made his head hurt when he thought about it. He tried to remember the child shouting, what he looked like… but everything was a blur. Yet he couldn’t forget it. Something about it made his heart… ache.

~~~

“So, how is Axel doing?” Xehanort asked while he and Xemnas watched Vanitas and Ansem spar.

“The rehabilitation seems to be going smoothly,” Xemnas reported. “Zexion has such incredible powers… Inducing such a deep amnesia. And any time Axel seems to question his lost memories, Saix is able to distract him and make him forget what he was even asking.”

“Good, good,” Xehanort said, “Just make sure being Axel’s keeper doesn’t get to Saix’s head too much. Their relationship is both an advantage and a disadvantage for our cause. Saix can keep Axel in line, but I need you to keep Saix in line. Understand?”

“Understood, Master,” Xemnas nodded and Xehanort smiled.

“Good boy,” he praised.

~~~

While Axel was at his Zexion healing session, Xemnas stopped by Saix’s office. He knocked and then entered after hearing the person on the other side of the door say, “Come in.”

“Lord Xemnas,” Saix greeted with a nod. “What brings you here this time of day? New missions?”

“No new missions,” Xemnas said, closing the door behind him. “I just want to talk. See how things with you and Axel are going.”

“He seems to be fitting right back into place,” Saix informed the Superior without looking up from his paperwork. “Zexion has done some amazing work on him. He doesn’t remember a thing about Roxas or the puppet. Sometimes pieces come to him in dreams, but I assure him that they’re just dreams and to tell Zexion about it. Then Zexion erases the dream from his memory. Simple, really.”

“That’s good,” Xemnas nodded. Then, without warning, Saix was thrown out of his chair and pinned against the wall, stones holding his wrists and ankles in place.

“Wh- What is the meaning of this?!” Saix snarled, struggling against the wall. Xemnas walked over to him and pulled back his long blue hair. He tsk’d when he saw the bruises and let Saix’s hair fall back into place. Then he bent part of the wall over Saix’s neck and squeezed, choking the man. Saix’s eyes bulged and he gasped for air.

“ **Don’t forget what side you’re on** ,” Xemnas said, but it wasn’t just Xemnas. It was that voice in his mind, that voice that told him it was there for him and that Lea was unfaithful. It was the voice that was always there, in his head, his mind, _his thoughts._ “ **Don’t let your emotions cloud your judgement. We have a cause, a _purpose_. Don’t make me regret letting Axel back into our Organization. I will not hesitate to kill you both if you betray me. Do I make myself clear?** ”

Xemnas bent the stones off of Saix, who hit the ground with his knees, coughing and gasping.

“Answer your Superior when he asks you a question,” Xemnas said patiently. “Did I make myself clear to you?”

“Of course, Lord Xemnas,” Saix said in a raspy voice, lightheaded from the choking.

“Good. Carry on, then.”

Xemnas left, and Saix remained kneeling on the floor, gasping for air.

What… had just happened?

Saix was trying to make sense of it. He had done nothing wrong, nothing to deserve _that_. Yes, he fooled around with Axel, but that was to distract him. Whenever Axel started to remember or ask about the things Zexion was making him forget, Saix’s job was to distract him. Hadn’t he already _proven_ to the Superior where his loyalty lay? Was carving a giant X on his face not enough? He was so…. confused? Hurt?

**You shouldn’t be feeling _anything_ , Saix.**

Yes. Yes, that was it. He shouldn’t be feeling anything at all. Saix pulled himself back up into his chair and took a deep breath, calming himself. He could feel the blood in his neck forming a large bruise where the stone had been crushing him. He could bloodbend, but he was no healer. He’d have to see Zexion after Axel was done with him and get his neck healed. Hopefully Axel didn’t ask too many questions.

~~~

The next day, during their daily spar, Vanitas noticed someone new standing next to Xemnas. Even with her hood up, Vanitas knew right away who it was. The Organization must have been using Ventus as a threat to get to her, too.

This was the setup Vanitas needed in order for his escape plan to maybe work. First, he’d have to send some kind of message to “Ansem” without anyone else knowing.

“Fight!” Xehanort shouted to initiate the spar, as usual. Vanitas saw Ansem look at him, then quickly over to Aqua and back. It seemed he took notice of their “visitor.” Vanitas bowed his head just slightly before rushing at Ansem. Ansem met him halfway, bending up a dust storm for cover. Vanitas lifted his mask only slightly so Ansem could hear him better.

“Throw me at them.”

As the dust cleared, Ansem used his bending energy to take hold of all the metal in Vanitas’s suit and shot him right in the direction of their spectators. Vanitas bent the shadows around them for cover and slammed himself right into his Master. He had gotten him by surprise, and his Master stumbled.

"You _**dare**_ defy me, boy?!"

"I've _always_ been defying you, _'Master'_."

Xehanort lifted his hand to bend the metal in Vanitas's suit but Vanitas was faster, bending the darkness inside his Master until he had fallen unconscious. Xehanort fought back, but the building rage inside Vanitas had finally burst forth and brought his Master down. He didn't know how long his Master would be out, but hopefully it would be all the time they needed.

Ansem felt the air around him and rushed at Xemnas. Without warning, the hooded girl jumped in front of him- or so Ansem first thought. But then he noticed she was being suspended in the air. He reached out and felt the metal collar around her neck. He broke Xemnas’s hold on it and bent it off her, slinging the metal back at Xemnas.

“You broke the agreement!” Xemnas yelled as Ansem assaulted him.

“No. _You_ did,” Ansem growled as he moved his arms in circular motions. Suddenly Xemnas was choking; he couldn’t seem to breathe, like there was no oxygen. Ansem had created a vacuum around his head.

Once Xemnas had passed out, Ansem stopped in order not to kill him. Then he turned to Vanitas and the girl who was hurriedly trying to take off the Organization coat.

“Leave it on,” Vanitas told her.

“I don’t take orders from _you_ , Vanitas!” the girl spat.

“You’ll stand out less with it on. When we get out of here, I promise I’ll burn it for you.”

“Why should I _ever_ trust you?! You’re the one who _started_ this mess!”

“No, _Xehanort_ started this mess when he ripped me out of Ventus. You and I want the same thing: Ventus safe. In order for that to happen, you’re going to have to trust me.”

“Last time I saw you you tried to _kill_ him!” the girl shouted.

“No one is going to get saved if you two keep squabbling,” Ansem said.

“And _you!_ ” the girl accused him. “Why do you look like Terra and how were you bending earth and air?! Don’t think I didn’t see what you did!”

“I don’t owe you any explanation,” Ansem said. “Vanitas, you said you know where Sora is. If you help me rescue him, I’ll help you rescue… Ventus, is it?”

“You know Sora?” the girl asked, still in a very scathing tone.

“ _You_ know Sora?” Ansem asked right back with surprise.

“Good, we all know Sora,” Vanitas spat sarcastically. “Now let’s get him and Ventus out of here and then we can all have a fucking chat about who knows who over tea like a bunch of fucking schoolgirls, okay?!”

Ansem and the girl looked at each other and then back at Vanitas.

“I will never trust you,” she told him, “not after what happened ten years ago. But right now, I have nothing else. So I guess that makes us allies. _Temporarily_.”

“Well, it’s good to know that at least _one_ of us changed,” Vanitas snorted. “Both of you keep your hoods up and stay behind me. That way to other members it will look like I just have an escort, like usual.” Vanitas raised his hand and opened a portal. “Follow me.”

****  
Vanitas knew exactly where Sora was being held. He could feel him, just as he could feel Ventus. He made a portal directly into the room, hoping no one but Sora was there. However, no sooner had he stepped foot through the portal into the room than he was met with a bolt of lightning right by his feet.

“You’re not allowed in here, Shadow Scum!” a female voice hissed, lightning sparking in her hand.

“No need for that, Larxene. He just wanted to check up on the boy,” Ansem said from behind him as he stepped through the portal. “He said the boy was giving him a headache, due to the nature of their relationship.” The portal disappeared as soon as Aqua crossed it, her hood up preventing anyone from seeing her face.

“Tch. _Ansem_ ,” Larxene scoffed with venom. “Finally gracing us all with your presence, huh?”

“I have been busy training with the Superior and his experiment. My apologies if it seems to everyone that I have been avoiding them.”

“Hmph.” Larxene crossed her arms, her lightning dissipating. “And who’s the other person with you? Our supposed ‘new’ number XIV?”

“Correct,” Ansem said. “She was also interested in seeing the boy.”

“Well, here he is,” Larxene said sarcastically, “Is he everything you imagined him to be? I don’t even know why he’s so goddamn special. I was just ordered to make sure he didn’t try to escape. No other information.” She was clearly displeased, arms folded tightly and pout evident on her face.

“Allow me to inform you, then,” Ansem told her kindly, hoping it would quell her. “He is connected to this guy.” Ansem gave the masked Vanitas a little shove, hoping he wouldn’t mind. “Which is why he’s being held down here. And sometimes _this guy_ -“ He gave Vanitas another shove, “-can’t focus on training because he’s worried about the kid.”

“What connection can a being made of darkness possibly have with a child?” Larxene snorted.

“This kind,” Vanitas said, letting his mask melt away into shadow. Larxene visibly recoiled.

“Okay, what the _fuck_ is going on in this goddamn Organiza-mph!?”

As soon as she let down her guard, Ansem bent pieces of metal around her mouth, torso, and legs, causing her to instantly collapse to the ground. It was as if she had giant rubber bands around her constricting her arms to her body and her legs together, only the rubber bands were made of metal.

“Quick, get Sora and I’ll keep this one busy,” Ansem said to the others as Larxene screeched in anger. Even without the mobility of her limbs, Larxene could still summon up sparks around her. Ansem bent the metal around her and threw her to the opposite side of the room.

“Now!” he ordered, prompting both Vanitas and Aqua to rush to Sora’s aid.

“Can you break the chains?” Aqua asked as she began untying Sora’s muzzle.

“Working on it now,” Vanitas answered, using the power of the darkness around them to summon up fluid shadow. He wrapped the fluid around the chains and squeezed them like tentacles. The pressure was strong enough to break the chains, and Sora fell into Aqua’s arms just as she removed his muzzle.

“A-qua,” he rasped, his voice dry, “is that really you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” Aqua assured him, helping him stand. Vanitas immediately began untying the back of Sora’s straight jacket. As soon as he was free from it, Sora took in a deep, satisfying breath.

“Thank you,” he sighed with relief. Ansem looked over briefly and smiled, seeing Sora for the first time in so long. In that moment of weakness, Larxene broke through the metal and threw electricity around the room with an angry fury.

“SOMEONE GET THEIR ASS IN HERE AND HELP ME!” Larxene yelled into a small dark portal she made. A few seconds later, both Axel and Saix jumped in through their own portal, fire surrounding Axel and water surrounding Saix. The fire lit up Axel’s face enough for Sora to see him.

“Lea?” Sora said with confusion.

“‘Lea?"” Axel repeated, equally confused. “How do you know that name?”

“Don’t bother, Sora, he’s been re-brainwashed,” Vanitas said, stepping forward. He raised his hands and darkness wrapped around the two newcomers. The fire extinguished and the water fell to the ground as the darkness glued Axel and Saix’s arms to their bodies. Vanitas brought them to their knees. Ansem returned his attention to Larxene and quickly immobilized her again.

“Aqua, Lea’s brainwashing was recent so there’s a good chance you can undo it,” Vanitas said. “We need Lea back if we wanna get out of here without the whole Organization showing up.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Aqua said, walking over.

“Wait! I can’t see!” Sora yelped as soon as Aqua left his side. He yelped again as he fell back into some sort of stone seat that magically appeared.

“Just sit tight there,” Ansem said, and Sora realized the seat had been bent out of the ground by him. Sora’s eyes quickly flew to Aqua, though, because her face lit up as she used healing water on Lea’s head.

“Someone has _definitely_ been messing around in here,” Aqua scoffed. “Everything’s all…. tangled. But I think I can sort it out. It’ll take some time, though.”

Axel had gone limp, held up only by Vanitas’s darkness, but Saix was struggling hard, especially since Vanitas had covered his mouth.

“Stay still, you bloodbending bastard!” Vanitas hissed, squeezing the darkness around Saix. He quickly stopped struggling after the dose of pain, simply glaring ahead of him at Ansem keeping an angry Larxene under control.

“Isn’t there anything I can do?” Sora complained, standing up. He was beginning to get stir-crazy. He was quickly bumped back into the chair, this time with restraints bent over his wrists and ankles. “Hey!”

“Yes, you can stay put,” Ansem replied, ignoring Sora’s complaining.

“Who even _are_ you?!” Sora huffed, struggling in the stone chair.

“That’s something I’d like to know as well,” Aqua cut in as she continued to work through Axel’s head.

“I’ll explain once we’re out of here and somewhere safe,” Ansem told them.

“I’m not leaving without Ventus,” Vanitas suddenly snapped. “The deal was I help you free Sora and you help me free Ventus.”

“I didn’t forget,” Ansem said, “I just want Sora somewhere safe first, that’s all.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal!” Vanitas shouted angrily. “You think I’m gonna let you go off with _your_ half of the deal and leave me here to get Ventus on my own with the whole Organization on my ass?!”

“Let him take Sora to safety,” Aqua said. “I’m not leaving here without Ventus either.”

“I’m not going _anywhere_ until I find Riku!” Sora shouted over all of them.

“Ha! Explain _that_ one to him, ‘ _Ansem,_ ’” Vanitas snorted.

“‘Ansem?'” Sora questioned. “Aqua, didn’t you say that that was what your friend Terra used to call himself? Are you Terra?”

“I’m not Terra,” Ansem sighed with frustration. “I was told to use that name by Xemnas.”

“Xemnas is Terra now,” Aqua said bitterly. “Or, at least, he’s what Terra has become…”

“Well, then we can’t leave without him either!” Sora said.

“There’s nothing we can do for him now,” Vanitas said, “but I am coming up with a plan, so we’ll be back for him after this ordeal.”

“You… You really mean that?” asked Aqua.

“Like I said before,” Vanitas explained to her, “I’m not the same person I was ten years ago. You get Ventus out of here safely and I’ll get Terra back for you. It’ll make Ventus happy too, so win-win.”

“Well, you did help get us this far…” Aqua considered it, “I guess… I guess you _can_ be trusted.”

“Glad that’s settled,” Vanitas said a little sarcastically.

“Nothing is settled until I find Riku!” Sora cut in.

“Riku isn’t here!” Ansem snapped back. “If you want to find him, you’ll have to do as I say.”

“I don’t even know who you are and you think I’m going to trust you know where _my_ best friend is?!” Sora argued.

“You should listen to him, Sora,” Vanitas sighed. “I’ll vouch for him on this. I can’t tell you how I know, but this guy really is the key for you finding your… *ahem* _friend_.”

Sora settled down. “Well, if Vanitas vouches for you… then I’ll trust you.”

Aqua gave a little laugh.

“ _Trusting_ Vanitas,” she chuckled. “After spending a whole decade hating him, I can’t believe I’m relying on him now.”

“Yes, well…” Vanitas sneered in return. “When you are basically raised by Xehanort and in constant pain, and then lied to about how to end that pain, you tend to believe in anything and do some stupid shit.”

Suddenly Axel came back to life, groaning in pain.

“My _head_ ….!” he complained.

“I think he should be okay now,” Aqua said, killing her healing water.

“Are you back to being Lea?” Vanitas asked, loosening the darkness around him.

“Yeah,” Lea replied, standing up and rubbing his head. He proceeded to rip off his Organization jacket and light a fire in his hand for light. He glared down at Saix.

“I fucking _trusted_ you!” he snarled, flames lighting around his other hand.

“You can kill him later,” Vanitas said, reinforcing his grip on the darkness binding Saix down. “First, you and Aqua are going to get Ventus. I’ll open a portal to where they’ve been keeping him.”

“Larxene won’t be going anywhere anytime soon,” Ansem said after securing her in rock and metal. “I’m going to take Sora somewhere safe. Meet me there when you get your friend. I trust you’ll be able to find us because of your connection to Sora.”

“Got it,” Vanitas nodded.

“Before you go, I have one question,” Aqua said as Ansem bent Sora’s chair up from the ground. “If Sora is the avatar, how did I see you earthbend _and_ airbend?”

“Because Sora’s _not_ the avatar,” Ansem answered her, “I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~~~
> 
> Thank you for reading! Once again, sorry that took so long. Hopefully it won't be that long for the next chapter to come out ^^;
> 
> Have a happy AkuSai month! :D


	3. Chapter iii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea and Saix have a heart to heart? conversation.

  
_**~~~** _   
_**Sleeping in the pieces of my vanished memory** _   
_**Were traces of regret and the past I had lost** _   
_**You were standing in the evening rain** _   
_**And began to fade away** _   
_**~~~** _

  
When Lea and Ventus had been caught the first time, the lights in their rooms had been turned on since they had no coats to grant them the ability to see in the dark.

This time, however, there was no light, so the only thing Lea had going for him was his fire when Vanitas opened a portal into the room where Ventus was being kept.

“Axel?” It was Xigbar, who had been guarding Ventus. He quickly stood up. “You’re not supposed to be in here-!”

He was quickly shut up by suddenly becoming completely encased in ice.

“That’s for what happened in the forest!” Aqua stuck her tongue out at Xigbar as she entered the room through the portal. Her smugness was short-lived as she quickly turned her attention to Ventus, hooked up to several IV drips which were probably keeping him sedated.

As she began carefully removing the needles, Lea said, “That’s Ventus? He looks just like my friend Roxas…”

“You two have met before,” Aqua told him. “Your memories will come back to you eventually. Whoever messed with your head did a pretty good job, but I managed to untangle most of the mess.”

“I wish you could get rid of my memories of Saix,” Lea scoffed, his fire burning brighter for a moment. “I’m going to _kill_ that bastard for what he did.”

“I don’t know the nature of your relationship but murder is going a _little_ far,” Aqua said, finally pulling out the last IV and using healing water to heal the area. She then picked up Ventus bridal style and turned to Lea.

“Let’s go.”

Lea stepped aside and let Aqua through the portal. Before he left, he doused the frozen Xigbar with fire so that he wouldn’t die of hypothermia. As soon as they were back, Vanitas sealed the portal and opened a new one.

“This is where Ansem brought Sora,” he said. “We should be safe there.”

Aqua hopped through, still carrying Ventus. Lea turned to Vanitas.

“Bring him too so I can have a word with him,” he growled, motioning to Saix.

“Whatever you say, Firebug,” Vanitas shrugged, lifting Saix up with his darkness. They walked through the portal and onto a beach. Vanitas quickly sealed it up while keeping Saix kneeling on the sand.

“Don’t let him go or he’ll bloodbend us,” Lea said right before he set Saix on fire. Aqua gasped in horror and Vanitas looked shocked but still held onto the body. The flames were gone after a few seconds, along with Saix’s Organization coat, but left Saix and the rest of his clothes unmarked.

“How did you do that?” Aqua asked with awestruck eyes.

“I can control what my fire burns. That’s why I was recruited to the Royal Gua- to the Organization,” Lea answered without looking at her. He was staring down Saix, who wasn’t breaking eye contact.

“Can you burn my jacket off me, too, please?” she requested. Still watching Saix, Lea burned the jacket right off her. She felt a horrible weight lifted.

“Thank you,” she sighed with relief, “I feel so much lighter.”

“Why don’t you take Ventus to rest in the treehouse?” Vanitas suggested. “That’s where Sora is. Ansem might be there, too, but I can only feel Sora because of my connection to him.”

“And what connection is that, besides looking like him?” Aqua asked.

“Ask him yourself. I have to stay here and keep this bloodbender under control while Lea chews him out.”

“Jeez, fine,” Aqua huffed. But before she left, she said, “Vanitas… thank you.”

“Just keep Ventus safe, okay?” he said. “He’ll wake up soon.”

“You really are a different Vanitas than the one from ten years ago,” Aqua smiled. “I’m sure Sora can tell me all about it.”

“Knock yourself out,” Vanitas said, and Aqua finally turned to make her way to the treehouse.

***

Lea was so angry that he didn’t even know where to begin when he started yelling at Saix.

“You just…! For the past week, I…! _How could you betray me like this, Saix?!_ ”

“ _I_ betrayed _you_?!” Saix snorted indignantly once Vanitas pulled his darkness off Saix’s mouth. “I guess not all of your memories have returned, then.”

“Cut the bullshit!” Lea snapped. “Why the _hell_ do you keep insisting that I somehow _chose Roxas and Xion_ over you?! It wasn’t a fucking choice, Saix! I was _ordered_ to take them under my wing. They were _kids_. You might be fucking _heartless_ but I’m not. I cared about them! I don’t give a flying _fuck_ if Xion was a puppet or Roxas was a shell of Ventus and Sora! They were _real_ , and you treated them like they weren’t. And even if you didn’t respect what they were, you should’ve respected how _I_ felt about them! The real traitor here is _you_!”

Lea was so angry that he couldn’t control his fire. It sparked around his feet, superheating the sand into shards of glass as he paced. Vanitas was impressed.

“If anyone chose a side, Saix, it was _you_. _You_ chose the Organization over _me_. I fucking _trusted_ you! I trusted you. Was everything you said to me in bed a lie, too?!”

“I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Vanitas said to himself, looking disgusted.

“I was ordered to keep you distracted,” Saix simply said, unfazed.

“So it _did_ mean nothing!” A flurry of flames flew up around Lea, dancing furiously and delivering such a powerful heat that Vanitas almost lost his grip on his shadows. “You once asked me if the past meant nothing to me, but it has always meant _everything_ to me! You are the one who forgot the past! Is Isa even still in there?! Or are you just a hollow, empty person now?!” Lea couldn’t stop the angry tears that ran down his cheeks, quickly evaporated by his fire.

Saix tilted his head, his eyes sharp and golden but his expression unchanged.

“I’m empty,” he said, staring right back into green eyes full of emotions.

“No you’re not,” Vanitas said, finally sick of this stupid spat. “You’re fuller than full. Filled to the brim with that piece of shit Xehanort’s darkness. In fact, you’re so full, you can’t feel anything else. So why don’t I help you lighten the load, huh?” And then Lea watched in horror as Vanitas reached both hands through Saix’s body and started pulling out what seemed to be a giant blob of darkness.

“What the _fuck_?!” Lea exclaimed, his flames going out as he started to panic. “Vanitas, what are you doing?!”

“Paying you back for that nice breakfast you made me,” Vanitas said casually as he put his foot to Saix’s back to help him pull the dark mound from his body. Finally, the darkness ripped and Saix fell forward, unconscious, as Vanitas held up a large chunk of struggling… Well, Lea didn’t know what it was but it was dark and squirming and _screeching_.

“Quickly, Lea, burn it!” Vanitas yelled, struggling to keep it in place.

“I… but… but Saix is… What _is_ that?!”

“ _Burn it now, I’m losing my grip!_ ”

Panicked because of whatever the hell Vanitas was holding and the fact that Saix had just collapsed, Lea didn’t have much time to think, so he blindly listened to Vanitas and willed his fire to burn up the giant blob of darkness. As soon as it was gone, Vanitas fell back on the sand, laughing to himself hysterically.

“Vanitas, what the hell just happened?!” Lea demanded, leaning down to make sure Saix was still breathing.

“ _YOU CREATED ME TO CONTROL THE DARKNESS FOR YOU!_ ” Vanitas roared with laughter up at the sky. “ _BUT I FOUND OUT HOW TO USE THAT POWER TO DESTROY YOUR DARKNESS! TAKE THAT, YOU OLD, BONEY BASTARD_!”

Vanitas continued to laugh at the sky and Lea was reminded of the day they met. Sure enough, the laughter became sobs and then Vanitas was quiet. Lea picked up the unconscious Saix bridal style and looked over at Vanitas. He was shaking and trying to catch his breath, but he finally turned over and looked directly at Lea with bloodshot eyes.

“I know how to defeat Xehanort.”

***

“I have to go back!” Sora insisted the moment he and Ansem had stepped through the portal and into the treehouse. “I still haven’t found my friend Ri- Hey, this is our treehouse!” Sora looked around at the familiar space. “How do you know about this place? And what did you mean when you said you were the avatar, not me? Master Yen Sid told me-!”

“He told you what he thought would keep you from running away,” Ansem sighed, taking off his Organization coat and throwing it on the ground. “You should have listened to him.”

“So if you’re the avatar, why did Riku run away?” Sora asked out loud. “I thought he ran away because he found out I was the avatar and was upset it wasn’t him… So then why…! I have to go back and find him!”

“You’re better off forgetting about him,” Ansem said, and that made Sora’s blood boil.

“Screw you! What do _you_ even know about Riku?! What do _you_ even know about _me_?!” Sora shouted at him.

“I know more than you think,” Ansem replied, sitting down while keeping his eyes on Sora.

“Then tell me _how_ you know!” Sora demanded. “Just because you’re the avatar doesn’t make you the boss of me! Tell me what you know about Riku or I’ll leave right now!”

“No, you won’t.” Ansem made a motion in the air with his hands and Sora was suddenly surrounded by rings of wind, forcing him towards Ansem. “I won’t let you.”  
  
Sora tried to fight back but Ansem was stronger. Somehow, this type of airbending reminded him of Riku’s.

“Why does this feel like Riku’s bending?” Sora seethed. “He’s used this air ring on me plenty of times. It’s not a usual airbending move. Have you been in contact with him?!”

“You’re smarter than you look, kid,” Ansem answered without emotion. “Stop looking for Riku. He doesn’t want you to find him.”

“ _Why?!_ ” Angry tears welled up in Sora’s eyes. “What did I do wrong? Don’t I deserve to know that so I can fix it?!”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ansem sighed.

“ _Then why did he run away from me?!_ ” Sora shouted, tears spilling from his eyes. “All I can think is that I did something that made him hate me… Why else would he not want me around? Is it because I’m weaker than him? Am I not enough of a challenge? Am I… not good enough for him…?”

“It’s nothing like that!” Ansem suddenly exclaimed, and the ring of air vanished. “If anything, he ran away because _he’s_ not good enough for _you!_ ”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Sora huffed, wiping his eyes. “Riku is the best person I know… How would you know anything about him, anyway?!”

“I met him,” Ansem said. “He told me all the awful things he did to you. And now he won’t face you until he makes amends.”

“Riku never did anything bad to me!” Sora insisted. “Sure, he teased me and stuff, but that's just normal things friends do!”

“This is something you don’t know about,” Ansem told him. “It’s about how Roxas was created.”

“What? You know about that?” Sora asked, shocked. “What happened?”

“I can’t tell you,” Ansem said, looking away. “Riku will tell you when he’s ready.”

Sora sat down and hugged his knees.

“I miss him,” he sniffed. “I miss him so much it hurts. I don’t care about anything he did. I just want him back…”

Ansem was just about to say something back when Aqua appeared through the doorway, carrying Ventus.

“Yo,” she greeted them, and then upon seeing the somber vibe asked, “is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Ansem tried to tell her but Sora wailed over him, ” _We still haven’t found Riku!_ ”

Aqua sat down next to Sora, laying Ventus down with his head in her lap.

“I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing Sora’s shoulder. “When Vanitas comes back, we’ll ask him about it, since now he’s the only one who can get us in and out of the Realm of Darkness easily. I’m sure we’ll be able to find your friend.”

“You shouldn’t look for Riku,” Ansem said. “He’ll find you when he’s ready.”

“How would you know?” Aqua asked skeptically.

“This guy keeps acting like he _knows_ Riku,” Sora snorted. “Riku never said anything about someone named Ansem, much less _the avatar_.”

“I assure you we've met and he told me about his situation,” Ansem said, “and yours.”

“ _My_ situation?” Sora asked.

“Concerning Roxas and the accident.”

“Right, which you also conveniently can’t tell me.”

“Uh, Sora,” Aqua cut in, “I have a question for you.”

Sora perked his head as if to ask “what?” so Aqua went on.

“What’s your connection to Vanitas and/or possibly Ven?” she asked.

“Oh, right. You probably don’t know,” Sora said. Ansem was grateful for the distraction. “Apparently, I somehow ‘mended Ventus’s heart’ when Vanitas got ripped out of him. I don’t know how and I definitely don’t remember doing it, before you ask. So somehow that makes me connected to both of them.” Sora shrugged.

“Well, I guess that explains why you look like Vanitas,” Aqua said, “or rather, Vanitas looks like you.”

Ventus began to stir in her lap and Aqua’s attention was immediately on him. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the light. When his eyes could focus, he found himself looking up to see Aqua’s smiling face.

“Aqua…” he said, smiling back. “I missed you.”

Aqua burst into tears, scooping him up into a hug.

“I’ve waited ten years to hear your voice again,” she sobbed. “Ven…”

Back outside on the beach, Vanitas suddenly jumped up.

“Ventus is awake,” was all he said before running towards the treehouse, leaving Lea cradling Saix in his arms with no explanation as to what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the wait! Hope you enjoyed! :D


	4. Chapter iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus and Vanitas are reunited, Lea and Saix/Isa have a little chat, and Ansem tries to keep himself together as Sora gets more and more frustrated about finding Riku.

  
**_~~~_ **  
**_Under the darkness,_ **  
**_Release the impulse that was locked away_ **  
**_I wanna be destructed_ **  
**_The hope that washed ashore turned into a vivid despair_ **  
**_~~~_ **

 

“Ventus!”

Vanitas was panting; he ran to the treehouse as fast as he could and climbed up the ladder like his life depended on it.

“Vanitas!”

Ventus was out of Aqua’s arms and in Vanitas’s in a manner of seconds. He embraced him so tight that Vanitas almost burst into darkness.

“I missed you, _so_ much,” Ventus began to sob, and Aqua looked thoroughly jilted and annoyed.

“I… missed you, too,” Vanitas admitted, hugging him back. God, he was _weak_. He was so, so weak. To have an empty ache inside him that could only be healed by his other half. If only they could stay like this forever…

“I understand now,” Ventus said, pulling away from Vanitas just enough so that they could look at each other. “I understand why you wanted to unite with me so bad that you almost killed us both ten years ago. Back then, I didn’t feel the pain because I didn’t know what I had lost. But now I do, and all I want is to be whole again. And now that we’re together, we can finally unite as one.”

_They’re in pain when they’re not together…?_ Aqua thought, her expression becoming concerned rather than scornful.

Ventus tried to hug Vanitas close again but his other half pushed him away and held him at arm’s length.

“I’m sorry, Ventus,” he said, “but I’ve given it a lot of thought, and becoming one person again just wouldn’t be right.”

“You’re joking, right?” Ventus laughed. “Don’t tease me like that.” His smile was pure and reminded Vanitas _exactly_ why they could never become one person again.

“I’m serious.” Vanitas held Ventus’s shoulders in place so he’d take him seriously, and the smile left his face.

“I… don’t understand…” Ventus said, hurt. “You were always the one who was obsessed with reuniting, and now that I feel the same way, you suddenly don’t?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Vanitas sighed, wondering how to explain this. “But it would be _wrong_.”

“What’s _wrong_ is being apart!” Ventus shouted, suddenly feeling like he was being betrayed. “I can’t believe... after all _this_ … You don’t _want_ to be whole?!”

“Of _course_ I want to be whole!” Vanitas snapped. “But if we became whole again, I’d be tainting something pure, and that would be… I can’t explain it to you, but that would be _tragic_. I don’t want to taint your pure light with my wretched darkness!”

“But we used to be one person!” Ventus shouted. “You told me it was horrible that we were ripped apart!”

“It _was_ horrible!” Vanitas shouted right back at him. “But it happened, and I’m not Ventus anymore. _You_ are. _I’m_ Vanitas. And stuffing me back inside you would be like… like if you lost weight and then didn’t fit into your favorite pair of pants anymore, so you try to gain the weight back. I’m sorry the pants don’t fit anymore, but trying to gain back weight so you can wear them again isn’t the answer!”

Ventus couldn’t believe this. After everything, after _everything_ they had just gone through…

“But… I’m incomplete without you…” Ventus sobbed, falling to his knees in defeat.

“I’m incomplete without you, too,” Vanitas said, sitting next to him. “We can still be together, as individuals.”

“B-But I f-feel s-so emp-p-pty,” Ventus stuttered through his tears.

“Me, too,” Vanitas sighed, taking Ventus’s hand. “Me, too. But I can’t… I won’t taint your heart of pure light. Even if it means suffering like this.”

They sat there for a while, Ventus still crying and Aqua, Sora, and Ansem watching them in silence, unable to think of anything to say. Finally, Ventus tired himself out and rested his head on Vanitas’s shoulders, jerking every once in a while from sniffling.

“Ven…” Aqua finally said, “and Vanitas… I had no idea you were in pain this whole time, being apart…”

“This isn’t something anyone else can understand,” Vanitas told her, a little snidely. “The moment Sora mended Ventus’s broken heart, we became two separate people. We can never be one person again, even if it makes us both incomplete. But there’s a silver lining." Vanitas looked directly at Aqua. “I know how to get Terra back, and possibly even beat Xehanort.”

“What?!” the entire treehouse of people exclaimed at once.

“I’m a shadowbender,” Vanitas explained. “I just tested my theory on Lea’s boyfriend. I reached inside him and pulled out a large chunk of darkness. It wasn’t easy, but if I practice on him and you, Ansem, I’m certain I’ll be able to remove Xehanort from Terra’s body.”

Everyone looked shocked, especially Ansem.

“You… can remove my darkness?” he asked, and for the first time ever Vanitas saw hope in his eyes.

“Yep. Apparently so,” Vanitas said. “That old bastard thought he was creating me to be his tool, but it turns out he just played himself. I’m using my power over darkness to get _rid_ of it. Bet the old fart bag never saw _that_ coming.”

“I can… I’ll be…” Ansem touched his face as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“Yep. You’ll be back to your normal self. I think, anyway. It’s not like I have much to base that on. But it’s worth trying, don'tcha think?”

“I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” Ansem replied immediately. “I want to be _me_ again. So I can…” He briefly glanced at Sora but then looked away.

“I know,” Vanitas nodded.

***

Lea stayed on the beach, cradling Saix. Saix- whom he was still extremely mad at. But he was still… And just what exactly had Vanitas done? It looked like he’d reached _into_ Saix and pulled out a giant blob of darkness… Had that been a part of Xehanort that had been possessing Isa? Was Saix Isa again? No, it couldn’t be _that_ easy…

Saix stirred in his arms and Lea waited with bated breath. His eyes were fluttering… Lea’s heart pounded.

_Don’t be yellow, don’t be yellow, don’t be yellow…!_

Saix opened his eyes. They were orange.

They stared at each other for a full minute before Saix said, “What the fuck is going on?”

“What… do you remember?” Lea asked, swallowing nervously.

Saix put his hand on his forehead.

“I… don’t know…” he said. “Did I… pass out during a mission? Why are we at a beach? Where are our coats?”

Lea wasn’t sure how to respond. Whatever Vanitas had done seemed to have brought back actual emotion in Saix. Could it really be true, then, that Saix had been so full of darkness that he couldn’t feel anything else?

“If you had to choose between going back to headquarters or running away with me, which would you pick?” Lea asked defiantly.

“What the hell kind of question is that?” Saix snorted. “I’d run away with you, of course. We only joined them so we could be together. Why are you asking me this?”

Lea grabbed Saix’s face and kissed him roughly. Saix made a noise of surprise that quickly turned into pleasure. When they finally broke apart, both panting, Saix said, “What is going on with you? You’re acting like it’s the end of the world or something.”

“Isa, don’t freak out, but there’s kind of… someone else inside you,” Lea said, holding Saix’s face in his hand.

“What? That makes no sense,” Saix said, “and you’re supposed to call me Saix, remember?”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Lea told him. “When you put on that black coat all those years ago, your mind began to get infected. A man named Xehanort is the real head of the Organization, and he’s been slowly possessing everyone who puts on his coats."

"What? Who told you _that?!_ " Saix snorted. "That can't _possibly_ be true."

"Trust me, it is," Lea sighed. "Anyway, I burned our coats and I have a friend who can purge Xehanort's darkness out of you... supposedly. That's why you're finally thinking clearly for the first time in forever. You were so full of darkness that you couldn't feel anything else."

Saix looked at him as though Lea had just announced that he was really an alien posing as a human.

"Are you... feeling alright?" Saix asked hesitantly. "Maybe you should go see Zexion and-"

"No! I mean, I'm fine. But we're not going back there, Isa. We're free now, and I'm going to help you recover."

"I don't think I'm the one who needs recovering..." Saix gently pushed Lea away from him and stood up. "Well, without our jackets, we can't get back to the castle. Where are we, anyway?"

"Destiny Islands," Lea told him, also standing up.

"Isn't this airbender territory? Why are we here?"

"This is where Vanitas brought us," Lea shrugged.

"Who's Vanitas?"

"The only person who can bring you back to me, Isa."

***

"So when can you get started?" Ansem asked Vanitas eagerly.

"I am still _very_ exhausted from what I did to Bluey out there," Vanitas motioned outside with a huff. "Let me rest, will ya?" He closed his eyes and curled up to Ventus.

"I can get us some food," Sora offered.

"No, you stay here where it's safe," Ansem said. " _I'll_ go get everyone food."

"But I know where all the good fruit trees are!" Sora complained like a child.

"So do I."

"Since when?! I grew up here, I know everything about this town!"

"This is where I grew up, too, believe it or not."

Vanitas snorted, and Ansem gave him a dirty look, not that Vanitas could see it with his eyes closed.

“Well, I grew up here _recently_ ,” Sora argued back at Ansem, who was clearly much, much older than he was.

“You’re staying here where it’s _safe_ ,” Ansem argued back, treating Sora like a misbehaving child.

“If anyone needs to stay safe, it’s _you!_ ” Sora snapped. “You’re the freaking _avatar!_ ”

“Yes, I am, and I’m way more powerful than you. If anything happened to you, I- _Riku_ would never forgive me.”

“ _HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW RIKU?!_ ” Sora yelled furiously.

“Why don’t you just tell him and get it over with?” Vanitas yawned into Ventus’s lap.

“Riku wouldn’t want it that way,” Ansem replied.

“You’re just digging yourself into a deeper hole by dragging it out,” Vanitas shrugged.

Ansem turned to Sora.

“Sora, I promise I’ll tell you everything, _everything_ , if Vanitas can actually take the darkness out of me. So _please_ , stay here where it’s safe while I go out and get us all some food, okay?”

Sora pouted and folded his arms.

“Let me come with you,” Sora said. “That’s a fair compromise, don’tcha think?”

Ansem sighed.

“All right, you can come with me, but no going off on your own, okay? Stay by my side.”

“Fine,” Sora grumbled. “Oh, wait, we can’t fly without staffs!”

“Right. Riku told me he hid some in here,” Ansem nodded, feeling around the floorboards.

“What? He never told me-!” Sora started to say, but then Ansem removed a floorboard and produced two staffs.

“Hey, no fair! I want a staff!” Ventus complained.

“There’s five in here, feel free to take one,” Ansem said, throwing one to Ventus before putting the floorboard back.

“Why didn’t Riku tell me about this?” Sora wondered out loud as he picked up his new staff.

“There’s a lot of things Riku didn’t tell you,” Ansem replied.

“Why’d he tell _you_ and not me?!” Sora demanded, feeling hurt. “I thought we were best friends! We told each other everything!”

Vanitas stifled a snort. Oh, if only Sora knew…

“I don’t have an answer for that at the moment,” Ansem said. “Now, are you coming or not?”

Sora pouted but clicked the button on his staff to spread its wings.

“Let’s go, then.”

And together they flew off, leaving Aqua, Ventus, and Vanitas alone.

“You know something about Ansem and Riku, don’t you, Vanitas?” Aqua accused him almost as soon as the other two had left.

“Obviously,” Vanitas replied, eyes still closed. “But Ansem and I have a deal, so my lips are sealed. Now, please let me _sleep in peace_. I just pulled a chunk of pure darkness out of a man, and for the first time I feel very little hollow emptiness because I’m finally with Ventus. Let me rest for the first day in my miserable fucking life.” His grip around Ventus became stronger for a moment before he relaxed. Ventus shrugged apologetically at Aqua and she folded her arms, pouting slightly. Vanitas had proven to be trustworthy, so she’d let him rest, even if he was rude about it.

***

Ansem was silent as they flew through the air. Sora kept side-glancing at him, still not sure how he felt about the avatar. He was shrouded in mystery, knew things about Riku he didn’t, knew things about Sora _himself_ that he didn’t. Like about Roxas…

They landed in a grove with various kinds of fruit trees.

“You know, Riku and I used to hang out here all the time as kids,” Sora found himself saying. Ansem looked over at him.

“Really?” Ansem said, bending a blast of air up a tree and collecting the fallen fruit. He then bent a giant bowl out of the earth and carefully laid the fruit inside.

“We would always see who could climb up the tree the furthest,” Sora continued, closing his eyes and watching the scene unfold in his memory. “Riku always won. He could get to the top of the tree and throw the fruit down to me. But when I tried to climb up the trees, I would get nervous and slip. I don’t know why…” Sora took hold of a tree and began to scale the trunk. Ansem watched him carefully, out of instinct.

“Before I knew how to use my airbending, this was actually a dangerous thing,” Sora chuckled, continuing to climb the tree. “The first time I slipped and fell, Riku rushed over using his bending and caught me. That was the moment that…” Sora swallowed as feelings he had been ignoring threatened to surface.

“I did it again,” Sora continued, leaving his last thought unfinished, “and Riku caught me again. Sure, he scolded me to be more careful. But every time I fell, Riku always caught me.” Sora was almost at the top of the tree, but he stopped. Ansem was watching him nervously, his protective instincts forcing him to make sure Sora was safe.

And then Sora let go, falling backwards from the tree. Ansem rushed forward to catch him, but Sora used his bending to flip himself right-side up and land safely. Ansem let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t known he was keeping in.

“Riku caught me every time,” Sora said, looking directly into Ansem’s eyes. “That’s why I never made it to the top of the tree. That’s why I know he’d never do anything to hurt me. And that’s why I can’t believe that he would just run off and leave me behind. I’m going to find him no matter what I have to do. I’ll take down the entire Organization if I have to. I’ll find Riku even if I have to travel to hell and back. I don’t care if he ran away because of something he did to me that involves Roxas. I know he’ll explain everything to me. He’s my best friend, and there’s nothing in this world that he could do that would make me stop lov- _caring_ about him.” Sora pointed his staff at Ansem with determination. “And you’re going to help me get him back.”

Ansem was almost speechless. To hear Sora say all those things…

“Sora, you seem to have misunderstood my intentions,” Ansem finally found words to convey his feelings. “All I want is to reunite you with Riku. Why do you think I’ve been so protective over you? I- _Riku_ only wants you to be safe. When you meet him again, he’ll explain everything to you.”

Sora lowered his staff but his expression remained unchanged.

“I still don’t understand what kind of relationship you seem to have with Riku,” Sora said. “You talk like you’re one hundred percent devoted to him and that he’s put all of his trust in you, yet I’ve never once heard him talk about you, as Ansem or as the avatar. Riku would have told me if he met the avatar, and I find it hard to believe that this kind of bond you two seem to have could have developed in the short amount of time Riku has been gone.”

Ansem sighed. Sora was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but he was putting together pieces that didn’t fit.

“Everything will make sense once Vanitas removes the darkness from me,” Ansem finally told him. “This darkness that’s inside me has changed me, and it’s for that reason that I can’t tell you more about Riku or how you’re connected to Roxas. But please, even if you don’t trust me as Ansem, trust me as the avatar. I’m on your side. The Organization did this to me. Once Vanitas removes my darkness, we can take them down. And you’ll be with Riku again. I promise.”

Sora finally softened his glare. He reached out a hand.

“Okay. I’ll take your word as the avatar,” he said, “but you promised I’d be with Riku again. So shake on it if you really meant it.”

Ansem didn’t hesitate. He took Sora’s hand, shivering internally at the contact, and shook it. Sora immediately perked up.

“All right, let’s get that fruit, huh?” he said, beaming.

“Yeah,” Ansem agreed, slightly dazed by the new look on Sora’s face and the loss of contact with the boy’s hand.

_Get it together, Ansem,_ he told himself as went back to harvesting fruit. _Once Vanitas fixes you, you can tell him everything._ He looked back over at Sora once more, who was using the same airbending move to make fruit fall from the trees.

**_Everything._ **

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> My beta has actually caught up on all the chapters I have written and I'm in a bit of a writer's block at the moment. I know sort of how I want this story to go but I haven't really been able to organize my thoughts lately.  
> Also, the more information about KH3 we get from the trailers, the more ideas I get. I started and wrote most of this fic before we got actual KH3 trailers with plot in them, so that's why Aqua wasn't nort'd while she was wearing a coat. Since the game isn't out yet we don't really know how that happens but considering the newest trailer showed Vanitas standing over her normal body with his keyblade in a position that looked like he was going to extract her heart with it, I'm pretty sure my poor child of darkness has something to do with it. If that's the case, I think I might be able to hatch a new plan in my story development.... [evil smile]  
> Something big like that is already written anyway, so....
> 
> Enjoy~


	5. Chapter v

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Riku one year ago leading up to now.

  
_**~~~** _  
_**Under the darkness,** _  
_**Pierced by the feelings that run through me,** _  
_**I don’t need any regret** _  
_**I’ll destroy my fate with these hands** _  
_**~~~** _

  
One Year Ago

  
“Does Sora know?” Riku asked, his head in his hands as he sat in front of Master Yen Sid’s desk.

“No, no one else knows,” the Master replied, “but it seems you already knew? Why were you keeping this a secret?”

“I just… I don’t want him to treat me differently,” Riku said, looking up. “I know I’m going to have to leave after I master airbending, and I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to live with that hanging over his head. Besides, this could also put him in danger. You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? The spreading darkness.”

“Yes, I am aware,” the Master nodded solemnly, “but you can’t keep him in the dark about this forever. I know you just want to protect him, but keep in mind, he might resent you for keeping this a secret.”

“It’s better he doesn’t know until absolutely necessary,” Riku said. “He’ll be used against me, if whoever’s out there learns I’m connected to him. Please continue training me like normal, and don’t tell him.”

“I will respect your wishes, Riku,” the Master said, “but I think the longer you keep this from him, the worse it will be when he learns the truth.”

Riku left his Master’s office and returned to his room. He shared it with Sora, who had his own twin-sized bed on the other side. Sora could sleep through anything, so he didn’t even stir when Riku reentered their room. As Riku watched the gentle rise and fall of his best friend’s chest, he couldn’t help but smile. He looked so peaceful, so pure… Riku could see the light inside him.

_I’ll never let anyone take that light from you…_

~~~

One week later

  
“Riku, let's go to the spirit world later after training!” Sora said excitedly at breakfast.

“Really? What’s the occasion?” Riku asked, playing with his food.

“I just have a good feeling about today,” Sora shrugged innocently. “And it’s been a while.”

Riku smiled.

“Okay, you’re on.”

So, late in the afternoon after their airbending training, Sora and Riku found a relaxing meadow, sat down, and began meditating. Soon they were both in the spirit world, and Sora was running around gleefully like the first time they visited this world. Riku had to smile. The spirit world was bright and colorful, but Sora shone brighter.

“You act like you’ve never been to the spirit world before,” Riku smirked, folding his arms and leaning against a tree.

“How can you _not_ be excited every time you come here?” Sora grinned. “It’s just so… amazing!”

Riku chuckled as he began following behind Sora who had begun to walk somewhere. They found themselves in a valley with hundreds of spirits flying by. Sora sat down and watched in awe. Riku sat next to him, but his gaze kept turning back to Sora. His blue eyes sparkled with the glowing shine of the spirits flying by. Without realizing it, Riku’s hand was sliding towards Sora’s. When Riku felt the brush of skin, he looked down and his heart pounded in his ears. Had Sora noticed? He glanced sideways at him, but Sora seemed fixated on the spirits. But his cheeks seemed… pinker?

 _Maybe… Maybe I should just tell him…_ Riku swallowed nervously, his hand slowly brushing against Sora’s. Sora _definitely_ noticed that, because he turned to look at Riku, still beaming like a ray of sunshine. Riku opened his mouth, not sure which secret would slip out first, but before he could even say anything there was a deep bone-rattling roar that suddenly surrounded them, and all of the bright spirits scattered in fright. Out of nowhere, a giant dark spirit rose up, emitting the roar again.

“What the heck _is_ that?!” Sora cried as the two boys scrambled to their feet.

“It’s some kind of _dark_ spirit or something…!” Riku replied. “Sora, we gotta- SORA!”

The dark spirit was faster than Riku had anticipated. It bolted down and swallowed Sora up in a matter of seconds. Riku felt as though the world had stopped turning.

“ _SORA!_ ”

 _I can’t bend in the spirit world…!_ Riku thought bitterly, _but I have to do something…! It has Sora! How did the darkness get into the Spirit World?!_

  
_A GREAT DARKNESS IS COMING._

  
Riku almost fell over.

“W-Who said that?!” he demanded.

  
_ MY NAME IS RAAVA. I AM THE LIGHT SPIRIT INSIDE OF YOU. YOU THINK YOU CANNOT BEND IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, BUT THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE **MOST** POWERFUL. YOU CAN SAVE HIM. _

  
Suddenly, Riku felt an immense power inside himself burst forth. He fought to stay conscious of his power but his body moved on its own. He was bending elements he didn’t know how to bend yet, and before he knew it the dark spirit was gone and Sora was unconscious in his arms.

“Sora? _Sora?!_ ” He could worry about what just happened later because right now all that mattered was Sora. If he stayed unconscious in the spirit world, then he wouldn’t wake up in the real world.

“Sora! Sora, please, wake up!” Riku begged, shaking him gently in his arms. But there was a lingering darkness surrounding Sora’s spirit.

“Raava, what do I do?!” Riku asked desperately, even though he still didn’t know who or what Raava was, but she'd saved Sora and claimed to be a part of himself, so she had to be on his side.

  
_ I AM AFRAID THERE IS NOTHING MORE THAT I CAN DO. THE DARKNESS INFECTING HIM IS TOO STRONG. _

  
**“But perhaps _I_ can.”**

Riku turned his head to see a man in a long black coat, hood obscuring his face.

“Who are you?” Riku asked, holding Sora closer to his body out of protective instinct.

  
_BE CAREFUL, RIKU. THIS MAN IS FULL OF DARKNESS._

  
“ **Raava is right** ,” the man said, “ **I _am_ full of darkness, but that is because I know how to use and control it. Your friend there is trapped by darkness and he won’t make it back to the real world like that. But I can free him for you, if you want**.”

“Of course I want that!” Riku yelled desperately. “If you can release him, why haven’t you done it yet?!”

  
_OBVIOUSLY IT IS BECAUSE HE WANTS SOMETHING IN RETURN._

  
“ **Right again** ,” the man said. “ **I can release your friend from the darkness, but it’s not that simple. That darkness needs to go somewhere. Are you prepared to accept the consequences of this action**?”

“Consequences? Will it hurt him?” Riku held Sora even closer.

“ **The consequences are not for him**.”

Riku’s eyes widened but then narrowed with determination.

“I accept the consequences.”

  
_RIKU, WAIT-!_

  
But it was too late. Riku had given his word. The man in the black coat reached down and, to Riku’s horror, reached _through_ Sora’s chest. Riku was frozen with shock as he watched the man retract his hand and pull out a very large chunk of pure darkness. And the moment it broke from Sora, the dark aura that had been surrounding him flew into Riku’s chest. He almost screamed as the cold numbness hit pierced him through his chest like he had been stabbed with an icicle, and then the cold spread through his body like venom. He could feel it; the darkness that had been trapping Sora was now inside him. When he came to his senses, Sora had fallen gently to the ground at his knees and the hooded man was holding another kid up by his collar. The kid had spiked up blond hair and an interesting black and white outfit. He was unconscious.

“Who… Who is that?” Riku asked, rubbing his head and chest.

“ **This is none of your concern… for now** ,” the man said. “ **But you’ll know one day. And until then… enjoy your time with that boy. That might be all the time you have. And if you tell even a single soul about this, I can easily cut that time shorter**.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?!” Riku demanded, but the figure holding the unknown boy had already faded into nothingness.

  
_NO TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THAT NOW. SORA IS WAKING UP._

  
Riku turned his attention back to Sora and quickly lifted him back up into his arms. His eyes flickered and he gave a soft groan, causing Riku to take a sharp intake of breath. When Sora finally opened his dazed eyes, he said, “Wh… What happened…? Riku…?”

“Everything’s okay.” Riku sighed with relief at hearing Sora’s voice again. He pulled him into a hug, still cradling him.

“Riku…? You’re freaking me out. What happened? Why are you crying?”

He hadn’t even realized, but as soon as Sora said that he felt something drip down his face. He took a deep breath and collected himself.

“Everything’s fine,” he repeated again even though his voice was shaky. “There was just a little accident and I got scared, but you’re okay. We should go back to the real world, okay?”

“Uh… sure, if that’s what you want…”

Suddenly Sora’s arms were around him, hugging him back.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

Riku snorted in order to keep himself from crying harder.

“It’s not your fault, dummy. Let’s just go back, okay?”

“Alright.”

Riku felt Sora leave his embrace to wake up in the real world.

“Never leave my side…” Riku whispered before he too woke up in the real world.

~~~

“We have a new member starting today,” Xemnas announced to the rest of the Organization in their meeting hall. “His name is Roxas and he just became a Nobody today, so he’s a little out of it.”

“We’re _all_ Nobodies,” Larxene yawned, “big whoop. But why did you recruit a kid?”

“Don’t talk to your Superior that way,” Saix reprimanded her.

“Guess you’re not the newbie anymore, Larxene,” Demyx said as he played with the knobs on his sitar.

“Until he gets the hang of things here, I’m assigning him to you, number VIII.”

“What? Why me?” Axel complained. “I’m not a babysitter!”

“Because what he needs right now is someone gentle and responsible to look after him, and no one else has those qualifications.”

Axel let out a snort of disapproval but then said, “I _guess_ that makes sense. I wouldn’t trust any of these boneheads with a child either.”

There were several outbursts at Axel’s snarky remark but Xemnas yelled, “SILENCE!” and everyone immediately shut up.

“I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and to treat our new member fairly. Now, welcome Organization member XIII, Roxas.”

There were murmured welcomes around the hall, and then Xemnas dismissed the meeting. Axel walked over to the kid and pulled down his hood in order to get a better look at him. He had blond hair and lifeless blue eyes that Axel knew would soon become gold.

“Don’t get too attached, Axel,” Saix warned him from behind.

“You think I _wanna_ take care of this lifeless kid?” Axel snorted back. “Ugh. This is gonna suck. C’mon kid, I guess I should show you around the place.”

Without speaking, Roxas followed behind him like a mindless zombie.

“Number VII, I need to speak with you in private,” Xemnas suddenly said from behind him. “It’s about number IV’s experiment.”

“Of course, Lord Xemnas,” Saix nodded, loyally following his leader out of the room. He took one glance back at Axel leading their newest member away before giving his Superior his full attention.

~~~

358 Days Later

  
“Are you the avatar?”

Riku whipped around from his desk at the unfamiliar voice. The only other person in the room with him was Sora, so who…?

But it was Sora, standing by his bed but looking at Riku with wide, golden eyes.

“So…ra….?” Riku asked carefully.

“My name is Roxas,” the golden-eyed Sora said. “I used to be a part of this boy, but I was ripped out less than a year ago.”

Riku couldn’t breathe. For the past (almost a) year, he’d had nightmares about that day, about what occurred in the spirit world. That cloaked man ripping another boy out of Sora… Was this that boy?

“You’re the kid I saw get ripped out of Sora in the spirit world by a guy in a black coat,” Riku concluded out loud.

“I have a message from that man,” Roxas said. “He told me to tell it to the avatar.”

“I am the avatar,” Riku admitted, glad he wasn’t actually telling this to Sora.

“The man in a black coat you saw rip me out of this body is part of a group called Organization XIII. They want you to join them or they will destroy everything you care about, especially the one you cherish most. They reside in the Realm of Darkness. I was told to tell you this by Xemnas, Organization XIII’s leader. He killed me and my best friend, Xion. My other best friend, Axel… I trusted him and he betrayed me. Then Xemnas killed me. If this is where I really came from… please don’t let this boy be next.” And then the gold in Sora’s eyes changed back into blue.

“Riku? Why are you staring at me like that?” Sora asked in his own voice. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. You didn’t _actually_ see a ghost, did you? I don’t want to do another room cleanse but you know I’m scared of ghosts so you’d tell me if you saw one, right?”

Riku was frozen speechless. Something inside him was pulling at his heart, and he knew that cue to be Raava wanting to talk to him.

“Sorry, I just suddenly felt really sick,” Riku half-lied. “I’ll be right back.” He promptly left the room and ran down the hall, looking for a nice secluded spot where he could talk to Raava in private. He found an old storage closet and shoved himself inside, closing the door.

“Raava, what’s happening?!”

  
_THE CONSEQUENCES OF FREEING SORA FROM THE DARKNESS._

  
“Well, what was I supposed to do, let him die?!” Riku hissed down at his body.

  
_YOU DID NOT WAIT FOR A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE. YOU CHOSE THE FIRST OPTION GIVEN TO YOU WITHOUT THINKING IT THROUGH. THAT MAN FREED SORA FROM THE DARKNESS, BUT IN TURN THAT DARKNESS WENT INSIDE YOU. AND THE BOY WHO WAS PULLED OUT OF SORA… THAT IS SOMETHING ONLY A TRUE MASTER OF DARKNESS CAN DO._

  
“So you mean someone like that can just reach inside someone and create another person?!” Riku sounded horrified.

  
_YES. A PERSON PULLED FROM THE DARKNESS OR POSSESSED BY DARKNESS IS CALLED A “NOBODY.” ROXAS WAS SORA’S NOBODY. HOWEVER, SORA’S NOBODY WAS SPECIAL. IT WAS HIS DARKNESS MIXED WITH ANOTHER PERSON’S. SORA POSSESSES A HEART SO STRONG THAT HE HAS MENDED ONE THAT HAS BROKEN. THAT IS WHY THE DARKNESS THAT WAS PULLED FROM HIM TOOK THE FORM OF ANOTHER BOY. THE FORM OF A BOY WHO HAD HIS OWN DARKNESS PULLED OUT OF HIM._

  
Riku tried to understand all of that information.

“Roxas… Roxas said I had to go join that Organization in the Realm of Darkness or they’d come after Sora,” Riku finally said, deciding that that was more important than trying to figure out everything Raava was telling him.

  
_THAT IS YOUR CHOICE, BUT I MUST WARN YOU THAT YOU WILL BE PUTTING YOURSELF, AS WELL AS THE WORLD, IN A LOT OF DANGER. HOWEVER, I ALSO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THAT BOY. WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE, I WILL BE HERE WITH YOU. I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU._

  
“Thank you, Raava,” Riku sighed, sliding to the floor and putting a hand to his chest.

***

That night, Riku wrote the hardest letter he ever had to in his life. There were so many things he wanted to say… He might never see Sora again. That thought tore him up inside. He couldn’t imagine not seeing that dorky, goofy smile every day…

But if this would keep him safe, Riku would do anything.

 _**Goodbye, Sora.** _  
_**Don’t look for me.** _  
_**-R** _

Riku couldn’t bring himself to write anything more than that.

_If I say anything more, he might come looking for me. I’d rather him think I hate him than I… than the truth._

Riku left the note in his bed and turned to see Sora fast asleep in his own. Even in the darkness, Riku could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest and the peaceful look on his best friend’s face. Riku quietly tiptoed over to Sora’s side of the room.

“ _Forgive me_ …” he whispered, and then bent down and placed a soft kiss on Sora’s forehead. The feeling of his skin against his lips… he’d remember that forever, no matter what happened or how much darkness filled him up. The world could separate them for the rest of their lives, but no one could ever take away his feelings. Sora would be in his heart forever, and no amount of darkness could change that.

Riku quietly grabbed the backpack he had packed and hidden under his bed, picked up his staff, and slipped out the window, soaring away into the dark, starless night.

***

“I’ve been waiting for you, avatar.”

Riku froze. He had landed by the woods to contemplate how to even get into the Realm of Darkness and was met by the same cloaked figure as that day in the spirit world almost a year ago. His voice sounded less… dark, but it was definitely the same person.

“What’s your endgame here, huh?” Riku demanded. “Why are you going to such lengths to get me to join your cult or whatever it is?”

“All questions will be answered in due time,” the man replied, “but before we can continue, you must give yourself up to the darkness within you.”

“You mean the darkness that lodged itself in me when you took Roxas out of Sora?” Riku said, putting a hand to his chest. He had felt that icy pressure in his chest every single day since the incident.

“Yes. That darkness has been growing inside you ever since. If you give yourself into it, you’ll have powers no other avatar has ever fathomed. We can train you. You can master the power of darkness. You’ve been taught that darkness is evil, that you must fight it and never give in; but that is not true. Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. You already have Raava, the light spirit inside you, which lets you bend more than one element. Raava is what makes you the avatar. Mastering the four elements is mastering light itself. Master darkness, and you will be a True Avatar, master of All. You will be more powerful than you can even imagine.”

“You had that dark spirit attack Sora on purpose, didn’t you?” Riku snarled. “So that I would join you. You’re trying to make it sound like you’re helping me master my powers, but I don’t have a choice in this matter. That means you’ll be using me as a tool of some kind. If you wanted to offer me training without any ulterior motive, you would have just presented the offer instead of forcing me by threatening my best friend.”

“You’re a clever boy,” the man praised him, “but I stand by what I said. Give in to the darkness and we at Organization XIII will train you to use your new powers.”

“And if I refuse?” Riku asked, already knowing the answer.

“Then Sora will become our new thirteenth member instead of you. Our previous thirteenth member is already back inside him.”

“Then I have no choice,” Riku sighed. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Close your eyes,” the man commanded, and Riku did so. “Now, focus on the darkness inside you. Let it grow; let it take you over! **Give into it.** Here, this will help.” The man produced a black blindfold and handed it to Riku. “Tie that around your head and over your eyes. When all you can see is darkness, you’ll be able to feel it more strongly.”

Riku did as he was told and tied the blindfold over his eyes. The next thing he knew, his body had changed completely. He felt his chest grow wider, his body more mature, and his hair longer. Everything hurt. He seemed to be a whole different person. And the blindfold was gone.

“What did you do to me?!” Riku demanded, his voice not his own.

“Welcome to Organization XIII, Ansem,” the man said before opening a portal to the Realm of Darkness. “From now on, that is your name. There is no more ‘Riku.’ And you are our thirteenth member.”

Riku couldn’t control his emotions. Tears fell from his face as he gripped his new, aching body.

 _I can never let Sora see me as this… this abomination I’ve become_ , he thought as he wiped his face before following the hooded man through the portal.

_But if this is what I have to do to keep him safe, I’ll do whatever it takes. I hope you can forgive me one day, Sora._

_I love you._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this first chapter got you excited for more! My beta just came back from Japan and after she recovers from jet lag and settles down, she'll actually watch the Kingdom Hearts series (I made her a youtube playlist) and also beta more chapters lol [[I'm super excited to get her into KH. I want it to ruin her like it ruined me AHAHAHAHA]]
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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